http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoka-Hennepin_School_District_11Between 2009 and 2011, nine students in Anoka-Hennepin committed suicide; the area is designated by state health officials as a "suicide contagion area." Many of these students were gay or perceived by their classmates to be gay, leading to bullying. The district is the subject of a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education over the climate of anti-gay harassment and discrimination based on sex, including peer-on-peer harassment based on not conforming to gender stereotypes.[2][3]

Anoka-Hennepin is in the congressional district represented by Michele Bachmann and contains the high school the congresswoman attended; this suicide epidemic led to questions during her presidential campaign about her opposition to anti-bullying policies and her other anti-gay policies and rhetoric. Her office did not comment on the suicides

As the university Assistant Registrar I used to make several trips a year to Anoka-Ramsey Community College, to provide information about our 4-year bachelors program, and assist students who wanted to transfer. Since A-R is a 2-year associate degree college it wasn't considered "poaching" students and their school admin permitted me to be there, doing presentations and counseling, sort of a 1-university college fair. It's located right in the heart of this community mentioned in the letter.

Back in 2000 I had been warned by our Enrollment Services that this was a very homophobic area, a fairly new and largely Republican bedroom suburb north of Minneapolis. So I was on my best straight behavior. I was totally out elsewhere, but here I represented our university, and I couldn't jeopardize that mission for personal motives and be barred from their campus.

Nevertheless among the students I counseled were a few whom I thought might be "family." In mentioning all our university's features I'd list some of the student organizations, always including the 10% Society (for GLBT). And indeed, that did cause some eager interest on the part of some students, who even told me they had nothing like that at Anoka-Ramsey.

Ever cautious, I don't think I told any of them that I was in fact one of the 2 advisors to our 10% Society, lest that get back to the A-R staff. But I did honestly tell them that our campus was very liberal and open, and that gays were out and safe. From what those students told me, a far cry from what they experienced there.

Personal note: I loved going to A-R, part of a week-long swing I'd make to other junior colleges in the Twin Cities area. I'd stay at a hotel in Mpls, going out gay clubbing every night. One trip I even brought my own guy along, and we danced at the Saloon on Hennepin Ave. until the early hours. It amuses me to think those uptight A-R administrators didn't guess I was fucking guys by night while I was counseling their students by day.

Art_Deco saidBack in 2000 I had been warned by our Enrollment Services that this was a very homophobic area, a fairly new and largely Republican bedroom suburb north of Minneapolis.

Uh... yeah. Good thing you weren't in one of those "very homophobic, largely African-American Democrat areas" in California.

Except we're talking about the Anoka County area, north of Minneapolis. And fact is that it is heavily Republican, and includes the Congressional district of that great proponent of gay rights, Michele Bachmann. An area that has seen one of the highest rates of gay teen suicides in the US.

Now please go peddle your irrelevancies and evasions elsewhere, and for once show a little compassion for the LGBT students who have to endure this persecution.